The scoop on 'J.L. Hudson, Seedsman'

Company Profile   J.L. Hudson, Seedsman J.L. Hudson, Seedsman has 1444 products listed in PlantScout. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 337 La Honda, California 94020 (United States) Phone: n/a Fax: n/a Catalog Order Page: Hyperlink Paper Catalog Cost: Free » E-Mail them » Visit their website Recent reviews: Past month Past 6 Months Past 12 Months Positive 1 4 14 Neutral 0 0 0 Negative 0 0 0 This company offers a variety of seeds. Other helpful information: Seed Exchange or Seedbank

Feedback History and Summary   150 positives 1 neutral 4 negatives

Comments:

Rating Author Content Positive g_whizz hobart Australia (8 reviews) October 21, 2009 purchased bulk lilium seed.arrived in australia in about 14 days.seedlings are up and look great........very proffessional Positive glassbrain vancouver Canada (1 review) June 12, 2009 I have ordered from J.L. Hudson for years, they came with the highest recommendations from my friends. Seeds have always arrived quickly, well packaged, clearly labelled. Their selection, service, and quality is absolutely unrivalled. I saw the few negative reviews on this page, and felt compelled to register just so I could post this comment. J.L. Hudson is by far the best place to obtain rare & unusual species! Positive Rareseedman Birmingham United Kingdom (1 review) June 08, 2009 5*** Star I have been dealing with him since about 1993. Cannot recommend more, highly commended. Even when busy he has taken the time for a personalised response, very quick delivery to the UK, no problems ever. Seed has always had excellent germination, I had some stored since 2003 it germinated in 2009, BRAVO! Positive Suzcook Pekin, IL (1 review) June 08, 2009 This is a wonderful catalog for gardeners who crave the unusual. It is written with accurate descriptions and my order always arrives promptly. I also appreciate the low prices. Thanks! Positive carolrees Arlington, VA (Zone 7a) (28 reviews) May 08, 2009 I ordered 1 package of seeds (Lychnis Viscaria splendens) which I am so happy to find since I can't find plants of this anymore and I want some more for my garden. I was shocked at how fast it arrived - just 2 days from when I ordered the seeds. I would definitely order from them again. Great company carrying a wide range of rare plant seeds. Positive evelyn_inthegarden Grizzly Flats, CA (10 reviews) April 01, 2009 What a nice company! And excellent customer service. I made an error in addition, as well as not figuring the sales tax. When I realized that this happened, I immediately emailed them, but also I was emailed, too, in a most friendly way. I made the the payment through PayPal, and I got the seeds the next day! I have never received any order that quickly from anyone. The only drawback is that they do not have a web-based order form. You must send your order through email, or standard mail. It took me a long time to do this, but on the other hand, they have an updated list of what is in stock, so if you use their catalog as a guideline, the online version will list what is in stock. If I mailed it in, and sent a check, it might have been more accurate, using their online catalog as to what is in stock, so there will be no disppointments. I don't think they would get my "snail-mail" order as quickly, though. I do not know if they wait for your check to clear before sending the order as well, so the PayPal payment was the speediest, as they got the money right away. (And I got my seeds right away!) Also they have excellent prices, as most of their seed packets are just $2.00, with a few, being only $1.50 and some $2.50, with some rare seeds a bit more. This company has been descended from the Harry Saier mail-order service, which has been in business for quite a number of years, as I have read about that company in some of my garden books alluding to their excellent reputation. I may comment again, after I plant the seeds, and see how they do. They give the seed-sowing instructions in their catalog and on their website, but not on the envelopes. Also there is further instructions on the Tom Clothier website as well. so I have confidence that I will be sowing them properly. I hope that this review gives you an idea of what to expect from this company, and how to go about ordering from them. Evelyn Positive rockimea Toronto, ON (Zone 6a) (1 review) March 25, 2009 Order was put on Mar 11th night. Seeds were mailed out on Mar 13th and received email. It's delivered to my home, at Toronto, on Mar 24th. Seeds are in very good condition, and many more than I ordered the similar seeds w/ a little bit more expensive for seeds and shipping from ebay (a Germany seeds company). Seeds were very well packed and labeled w/ brief germination instruction. J.L. Hudson, Seedsman is providing a very high quality of seeds and services. Thank you! Positive buggycrazy Lebanon, OR (Zone 7b) (19 reviews) March 13, 2009 Received my order very fast even though I ordered late and it is the busy season. I have been dealing with them for years and have always been a happy customer! Positive botanikk sassari Italy (8 reviews) February 15, 2009 I have been ordering from this company for many years...perhaps since I was 12 years old, back when it was called World Wide Seeds or something like that. It is an excellent company...quick service both in the US and abroad, and (with few exceptions) great germination rates, fresh seed, great informative catalog...highly recommended. Positive JudyF Waukegan, IL (6 reviews) February 09, 2009 I have been ordering from JL Hudson, Seedsman for years now. They are reasonably priced, and service is excellent. They offer a wide variety of hard to find seeds, gibberellic acid supplies and kits, and several interesting and important books. I highly recommend this company. Positive cannabinatea Mantua, OH (7 reviews) February 02, 2009 2/2/09....Another good order from this company... Seeds always germinate well.....good prices for the amount of seeds sent....the Reserved List is full of unique and endangered seeds....Hope to try one of these this year.... Positive zenpotter Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4b) (3 reviews) November 24, 2008 I have been ordering seeds from J.L.Hudson for several years now and have been pleased with every order I have gotten from them. When I call them with a question they are always friendly and helpful. I have done winter sowing with most of the seeds I have gotten and get a high germination rate. If you try them I think you will be pleased. From ordering from six different places I now order from two and J.L. Hudson is one of the two. Positive markrs Sunnyvale, CA (6 reviews) November 24, 2008 I just received my first order a couple weeks ago and I'm very pleased. The prices are great and the seed quantities are very reasonable. The mindset at J.L. Hudson is clearly very different than at your typical company--they test the seeds for viability and report some of the results in their catalog. They give estimates as to germination times, which I gather are conservative. Of the 5 types of seeds I bought, I planted 4. Two of these germinated somewhat faster than expected. The other two germinated much more quickly. I can't exactly complain, but of course it is wise to watch for early germination of seeds such as that. There are certain seeds whose germination is slow, erratic and/or whose viability is easily lost--it's just not worth the hassle to wait weeks or months for germination if you are starting with bad seed. J.L. Hudson seems like an ideal company to go to for situations like that. So next order I'll have to try some Passiflora. Unfortunately they don't seem to sell Nepenthes... Positive Spookycharles Langley, WA (Zone 8b) (29 reviews) November 21, 2008 I just received an order from J.L. Hudson Seedsman and most certainly plan on placing more orders in the very near future. They have an incredible selection, great prices on hard to find varieties and very fast shipping. Everything arrived well labeled and with more germination information and larger quantities of seeds than I expected. Fantastic seeds company. Positive cleanspring Denison, TX (1 review) October 25, 2008 I'm a very big fan of J.L. HUDSON, SEEDSMAN. Everytime I buy from them it's a delightful experience. I know I can buy from them forever because I can barely read and study 4 pages before I find my quota of seeds for the time being, and there are a great many pages of seeds to order from ! It's Christmas by instalments. Thank you from M. Vaughan Positive Celene Columbus, OH (5 reviews) September 06, 2008 I've ordered from JL Hudson for years. Always excellent service and an amazing variety of seeds. Positive Menk Darling Downs Australia (9 reviews) August 08, 2008 One of the best companies I have ever had the pleasure to purchase seed from. Positive Kubileya Laurel, DE (Zone 7a) (1 review) June 28, 2008 I've been a customer of J.L. Hudson for several years and I can't say enough good things about them. Customer service emails are answered promptly and courteously. Shipments have always arrived within days. The catalog is amazing-- full of great info on plant culture and history as well as medicinal and edible uses. I've never had a problem ordering from them online. It is different than using a cart system like most commercial sites have, but the instructions for placing an order are very clear and simple. I support J.L. Hudson's mission and philosophy and I love the quality of the service and seeds I have recieved. I'll be ordering from them for years to come. Positive IslandJim Keizer, OR (Zone 8b) (4 reviews) June 10, 2008 Very helpful; very economical. Positive therica Falling Waters, WV (Zone 7a) (4 reviews) May 16, 2008 I've ordered from JL Hudson a few times. Their online catalog is difficult to discern or read at times, as I've discussed with them in the past. But they're seed-people and not html-programmers, so I understand. They've always shipped promptly and sent viable seeds. Last year, early summer 2007, I needed some creeping thyme. I went through about 2 weeks of go-rounds in emails with them, and they were fantastic and very patient. We finally sorted out what plant-seeds I actually wanted, and what they still had in stock. They had only one packet left. So-- their whole gross-income for all of that was $4.50 plus the cost of a postage stamp to send it to me. Try to find that kind of dedication and customer-service anywhere else, these days! Positive Ammu (5 reviews) May 02, 2008 Simply Amazing!. I ordered seeds via postal mail last week & i received the seeds this afternoon. They have a wide variety of seeds from the very ordinary to the most unusual. Very good prices too!. Positive Dauphin Loganville, GA (3 reviews) April 24, 2008 J.L. Hudson is a veritable treasure trove of rare and unusual seeds. I have used them before, am using them this spring, and likely will use them for years to come. The order interface is a bit unusual, but if you can't take the time to write up an email, chances are you do not have the patience or time to be a decent gardener either ;). My personal favorite is the "long standing" cilantro. For those of you who have been frustrated trying to grow your own for garden fresh salsas, (and then watch the plant bolt to seed before you could harvest) this variety is a life saver. I have not seen it offered anywhere else. In a nutshell: Top notch selection, fast and reasonable shipping, great results with fresh, viable seeds. Highly recommended! Positive grimelda Stockholm Sweden (1 review) April 22, 2008 I placed an order with them a little over a week ago and it arrived today. You might not think that is remarkable, but they had to travel all the way from California to Sweden! I haven't planted the seeds yet so I can't testify as to their quality, but everything I ordered is present, including the catalogue. Not only that, but the postage on the order is about twice what I actually paid (and that doesn't include the cost of the packaging). On the whole, I can't recommend this company highly enough: their list is extensive and includes many varieties I have not seen elsewhere, the seeds are charmingly packed, the catalogue is great reading, the service fast and the communication excellent. Positive LYNWOODSTUDIO Daphne, AL (1 review) April 15, 2008 I have been ordering seeds from JL HUDSON for about 8 years. Wonderful people and excellent service! The best thing I can say is that the germination rate of the seeds is outstanding even for the difficult ones!! I am a novice gardener and have always had outstanding luck. The people below that left negatives really need to get a new life. If you can't read the instructions or fill out forms properly, please go to the garden center at Home Depot, they have people there in red vests that can read you all the instructions. When I order from JL HUDSON, I list alternatives for items that could be sold out or items that will not be appropriate for my area and have NEVER been disappointed with any order I have ever received. I have several show dogs that run in my back yard and so on every order I note if any of the selections I choose could be poisonous to the dogs to please advise. Wow.. and they do the extra research each and every time without charge or argument and let me know. How can one get better service??? I gladly pay for the seeds and always add a couple dollars to have them make additional additions of wonderful new items they like in particular. They are a wealth of knowledge! So to the people looking for hard to find… if ever… seeds, want great germination, information and excellent service, I can tell you that the people at JL HUDSON is where you want to shop. My average purchases are about $50.00 per year and I receive free of charge 1 catalogue in the winter and a couple supplements during the year. The catalogue by the way is OUTSTANDING!!! LYNWOOD STUDIO Positive luannewolf Fayetteville, AR (1 review) April 01, 2008 I give JL Hudson a gold star for customer service. I ordered some vegetable and flower seeds, planted most of them in flats on my heat mats, and then realized that one flower packet was missing. I don't really know if I lost it or if it was not in the order in the first place. So, I emailed JL Hudson and told them I couldn't find my Valerian seed, and even though they were correct that it was listed on the packing list, they immediately sent me another packet of seed. That's what I call customer service! Positive trioadastra Ellsworth, WI (Zone 4a) (4 reviews) March 22, 2008 Very good selection, very reasonable prices. Fast and inexpensive shipping. The ordering process was a bit more difficult than cart shopping; I printed the instructions and referenced them to make sure I didn't screw anything up. No, The seeds do not come with germination instructions, but if you need help germinating seeds, you probably shouldn't be ordering unusual seeds from a seed bank anyway. I'll definately come back for more seeds from JL Hudson. Positive Helios Louisville, KY (6 reviews) March 11, 2008 I received my order extremely quickly... faster than some other online retailers. J.L Hudson has seeds that are quite hard to find (they are the only place I could find Sweet Woodruff seeds), and the quantities and prices are good. Positive faerygardener Angels Camp, CA (Zone 7a) (7 reviews) February 12, 2008 JL Hudson has a fantastic selection of seeds at VERY reasonable prices with the lowest shipping I've seen. I placed a good size order on the internet on Thursday evening and received it the following Monday. I simply read and followed their instructions for ordering and found working with them a breeze. Highly recommend this company. Positive Atropanthe Memphis, TN (Zone 8a) (1 review) January 30, 2008 "Preservation Through Dissemination" I have been a 100% satisfied customer of JL Hudson since the early 90's. A truly outstanding selection of rare and obscure species, good germination rates and promotion of GA-3 experimentation combined with accurate, prompt and courteous service. I look forward to many more years of being a loyal customer. Positive jnbgregg Baltimore, MD (2 reviews) January 06, 2008 Just received this year's order. All items ordered were delivered. Thank you. Have been dealing with JL Hudson since the early 90s and will continue to do so. Selection runs from the commonplace to the unique and unusual. Seed germination has always been high. Live plant material has always arrived in good condition. I've written with questions over the years, and have always received a courteous, prompt reply. For anyone interested in biodiversity and what is happening politically in the United States and abroad, the books Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience, and Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience, available through JLH are worth reading. Positive ryanlath San Francisco, CA (2 reviews) December 06, 2007 Seeds arrived promptly. Lots of seeds per packet, cheap prices. High germination rate. Everything I bought sprouted in the first week! How exciting! Positive LariAnn Miami, FL (Zone 10a) (5 reviews) November 26, 2007 I'm very pleased in doing business with J. L. Hudson, Seedsman. I ordered 4 packets of Eucalyptus seeds on 11/5/2007; the order was filled promptly and I received them about a week after I ordered them. On planting, most of them had germinated after only one week! Very good viability and fine service. I just placed another, larger, order for more Eucalyptus seeds on 11/26/07. On November 30th, 2007, LariAnn added the following: Update: My second order arrived today, 11/30/07, much faster than the first one! I'm very excited now to grow all the new Eucalyptus seeds I just received. Another great experience with J. L. Hudson, Seedsman. Thanks Much! Positive majuscule Bloomfield, CT (2 reviews) November 02, 2007 I like this company! Though they are more of a seed bank, with lots of interesting hard to find items, than your usual commercial catalog. The black and white catalog is filled with small print but many many many varieties of seeds to to choose from. These folks must spend their time tending to business rather than looking for cute garden ornaments and garden equipment to sell. If you're into the scientific side of gardening, don't miss their GA-3 (gibberelic acid) kits for difficult to sprout seeds. It had been my dream from high school to use this and now I have a source. I have never had a problem with them, but once when I sent a note along with my order (about a success with a difficult seed) I got back a short hand written note! Good folks at J. L. Hudson! Positive jenf Qualicum, BC (Zone 7b) (4 reviews) October 24, 2007 Been looking at the web site for a few years now. Thought I would give it a try, although I tend to avoid cross border shopping. The prices and shipping to Canada were very reasonable, communication was great. And the seeds arrived quickly and as ordered. Thanks, I'll be back for more. Positive suellaf Tahlequah, OK (1 review) October 18, 2007 First time to visit Dave's Garden and had to make a quick comment about my experience with, JL HUDSON... I have been ordering from you for over 17 years. We first moved to our "homestead" 18 years ago. I have had only positive results and customer service from your company has been wonderful. We still "farm" on a small scale, and I still order my seeds from your company. You have always been fair, courteous and helpful. But the best are your seeds the quality is great and I appreciate the credits when a seed is not available... I have always had excellent results from you. Keep up the good work and Philosophy... Positive katiebear mulege Mexico (3 reviews) October 05, 2007 First, I love their catalog. It is informative, opinionated and entertaining. Second, their service has been excellent. In one instance my seeds were returned to them from the address I gave them (entirely my fault) and they remailed them to me in Mexico AT THEIR EXPENSE. Third, I like their philosophy and the way they put it into practice. This is a good company to support. Positive soilserf douglasville, GA (Zone 7a) (9 reviews) August 26, 2007 I purchase seeds from J.L. Hudson from time to time and find their products and customer service to outstanding. Their shipping charges are in line with other companies, and their products are received in good order. Positive cocoa_lulu Grand Saline, TX (Zone 7b) (1 review) August 25, 2007 I placed my first order this week with J.L.Hudson Seedman. I even managed to make a mistake in not adding my mailing address to my order (it was given through paypal which makes it harder for them to fill the order). I'm sorry for the mistake. That being said, no one with J.L.Hudson treated me like a second rate citizen or berated me for my mistake. I received my order quickly and I'm very pleased, will order again. Positive odinthor Los Alamitos, CA (1 review) July 25, 2007 I have purchased seed from J.L. Hudson, Seedsman, for decades (since the 1970s, I believe). I wish all seed companies--indeed, all vendors--were as dependable and straightforward as this one. The amount of seed supplied is generous; the seed is of high quality; and you find here many a thing which you will not find elsewhere. It can't be easy to make a profit with, on the one hand, seeds of obscure plants which are not in high demand, and, on the other, the likely quick-selling-out of such sorts as *are* in high demand; this company is to be congratulated for persevering in its business. If seed of the same particular variety were being offered by, say, Burpee, Park, Thompson & Morgan, Johnny's Seeds, and J.L. Hudson, I would without hesitation choose to buy the seed packet from Hudson rather than the others. The customer owes it to himself and to the company to read, understand, and act in accordance with the stated terms of business; if this is done, it's smooth sailing all the way with J.L. Hudson, Seedsman! Company representative comment on July 26, 2007: On Jul 26, 2007 6:41 PM, J.L. Hudson, Seedsman added: Hey, thanks! After the last two ratings, its nice to hear from someone who appreciates us! We really do try hard to do a good job, and hope we succeed. We like to please our customers, and its really nice to know when we do. Negative gsteinbe Trenton, NJ (10 reviews) July 18, 2007 I placed an order from J. L. Hudson's print catalogue. On the order form, I had to mark whether, for out-of-stock seeds, I wanted substitute seeds or a voucher. I didn't really see an option to request a refund. So, I marked "voucher." My order arrived with a voucher for several seeds that were apparently out of stock. I immediately placed another replacement order and used the voucher. On the order form, I once again marked "voucher" for out-of-stock seeds. When my order arrived, once again some seeds were out of stock, and I got another voucher. But at this point, I realized something. Every time I placed an order to replace the out-of-stock seeds from my last order, I was repaying the shipping and handling charge. If I had gotten all the seeds I'd ordered the first time, I wouldn't have had to pay shipping and handling again and again. And why were so many seeds out of stock? I placed three orders, and in every single order, some seeds were unavailable. Either I was *very* unlucky, or J. L. Hudson lists a lot of seeds in its print catalogue that aren't really available. So, I emailed J. L. Hudson to say that I wasn't overly happy with this situation. Given the high ratings here, I fully expected to get a nice email back and maybe even a refund for some of the shipping and handling charges that I had paid. It wasn't *that* much money, so I wasn't set on a refund. I mostly just wanted to hear from J. L. Hudson that they appreciate my business and sympathize with my feelings. Instead, I got an extremely snotty message that essentially told me never to order from J. L. Hudson again. The message basically said that I was the idiot who marked "voucher" on the order form and didn't check the website for availability of seeds, so I got what I deserved. Clearly, J. L. Hudson doesn't appreciate my business or sympathize with my feelings at all. J. L. Hudson's email went on and on and on too, such that I began to think, "The lady doth protest too much." I laughed out loud when I got to the part of the message where I was told that J. L. Hudson sells only the finest seed after meticulously testing its germination rate (as if I had complained in any way about their seed's quality). And I can't help but note that every negative rating here has a very long, defensive diatribe from J. L. Hudson accompanying it. In every case, it seems, if someone is dissatisfied with J. L. Hudson, the dissatisfaction can't possibly be J. L. Hudson's fault in any way; the dissatisfaction is the result of the complainer's being an idiot or a liar or a baby. I don't like defensive, arrogant people, so why on earth would I do business with a defensive, arrogant company? There are too many good businesses out there to waste my time on J. L. Hudson. For those of you who have positive experiences with J. L. Hudson, I hope you never have reason to complain about anything in any way, because if you ever do, you'll probably see a very different side of J. L. Hudson. On July 31st, 2007, gsteinbe added the following: I want to thank J. L. Hudson for posting the partial scans of my order forms. Now I remember why I had the impression that there wasn't a refund option on the form. The form says, "REFUND (Small Amounts in Stamps)." Now, I'm a college English professor, so maybe I read too much into things, but I was a little unsure what "Small Amounts in Stamps" meant. Did it mean that one could only get a refund if the amount to be refunded was small (and it would come in stamps)? Did it mean that one could get a refund for any amount, but if the amount was small (as determined by J. L. Hudson), one would get it in stamps? How small is small? What kind of stamps? Postage stamps, food stamps, grocery stamps, what? I thought marking "CREDIT MEMO" was at least less fraught with uncertainty. And besides, I didn't expect a lot of things to be out of stock, since I was ordering in January 2007 from a January 2007 catalogue. Only after I had gotten two or three credit memos did it occur to me that, each time I redeemed a credit memo, I was paying postage all over again (as was J. L. Hudson, of course, when sending my orders to me). But the real problem here wasn't the order form, the credit memos, the postage, or any of that. The real problem was that J. L. Hudson was (is?) snotty and holier-than-thou: "We filled both of your requests for seed promptly, accurately, and followed your instructions to the letter." That phrase "to the letter" there seems to sum it all up. I admit it openly. J. L. Hudson was technically, according to the letter, proper in all that they did in their dealings with me, and they apparently take *tremendous* pride in that fact. As another dissatisfied customer posted here, J. L. Hudson is "clearly more committed to being right than they are to customer service." To quote J. L. Hudson again, "I'm sorry if I do not apologise to people for filling their orders exactly as they instruct." Who *asked* you to apologize for that? Are you not sorry at all that I found the process of ordering from you frustrating because of the number of out-of-stock seeds listed in your print catalogue and the ambiguity of your order form's "REFUND (Small Amounts in Stamps)"? I wanted to hear that you were sorry about that kind of thing; I never expected or wanted or asked you to apologize for filling my order "to the letter." But you seem too busy justifying yourself to empathize with your customers. If I were an elderly person or a child who filled out the order form wrong and got charged for a bunch of seed that I didn't want, that'd be just what I deserved, right? As long as you filled my order "to the letter," you wouldn't care if I ended up with a bunch of seed that I didn't want for a bunch of money I didn't intend to spend? Hey, you filled my order exactly as I instructed. You did nothing wrong. If I'm too lazy and stupid (OR too old and senile OR too young and innocent) to get the order form right, that's *my* problem, right? Good luck with that attitude. On August 1st, 2007, gsteinbe added the following: One last note (which I forgot in my last posting): J. L. Hudson suggested that every negative rating they've received here was libellous and that their responses are just "set[ting] the record straight," but I find interesting the fact that, so far, I've posted two negative, two neutral, and four positive ratings on this website. Of those, no one but J. L. Hudson felt obliged "to set the record straight," and in fact, Burpee, to whom I gave a neutral rating, emailed me privately to apologize for the way I was treated by their customer service people -- even though the incident I mentioned in my rating happened more than a year ago and they only have my word that it happened at all. Interesting how people's attitudes can be so different from one another, isn't it? Company representative comment on July 26, 2007: On Jul 26, 2007 6:37 PM, J.L. Hudson, Seedsman added: Here we go again! Mr. Steinberg wrote: "I placed an order from J. L. Hudson's print catalogue. On the order form, I had to mark whether, for out-of-stock seeds, I wanted substitute seeds or a voucher. I didn't really see an option to request a refund. So, I marked "voucher." In fact, in his email to us dated February 8, 2007 he stated: "I would say that this was all my own fault for checking "CREDIT MEMO" on my order forms instead of "REFUND," but I didn't really expect to have so much trouble with out-of-stock items when I ordered from a January 2007 catalog *in* January 2007." Go to http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/Steinberg.htm to see scans of his order forms - you can see that the "REFUND" option is quite visible right below the "CREDIT MEMO" option he clearly marked - there is ABSOLUTELY no way he could not have seen a refund option, and besides that, he admits in his email to us that he could have checked "Refund". Yet now he claims "I didn't really see an option to request a refund." This is very interesting. Mr. Steinberg wrote: "I placed three orders, and in every single order, some seeds were unavailable." Incorrect - on his order dated July 14th 2006, which was mailed to him July 18th - nothing was out of stock. There were out-of-stock items on his two subsequent orders: He ordered Jan 16 2007, it was mailed Jan 19th - 1 packet of Rosa eglanteria and 1 oz Allium tuberosum were out of stock - he asked for credit, we sent credit of $8.45 - $8 for seed, 45c for the postage he paid for the ounce. You can clearly see in the scans of his order forms that he checked the "Credit" option, and that we credited him the postage on the out-of-stock ounce. He ordered Jan 26, it was mailed Jan 30 - he returned his credit memo plus a check for $4.50 - 1 oz Elaeagnus multiflora out of stock. Again he asked for credit, we credited $6.45 - $6 for the seed, plus 45c for the postage he paid for he ounce. He states that: "But at this point, I realized something. Every time I placed an order to replace the out-of-stock seeds from my last order, I was repaying the shipping and handling charge." Again, you can see from the scans that we credited him every cent of the postage he paid for the out-of-stock ounces he ordered. He did have to pay for the postage on the packets he ordered, and which he received - why we should have to refund him postage and packing which we already spent on mailing his seeds, I do not know. Our policy is to refund or credit any postage paid for bulk quantities when those are out of stock, and refund or credit any excess postage paid. However, we do not give free postage on orders returning a credit memo. Our postage rates are at cost as it is -- unlike some companies, we do not make money on postage charges. Mr. Steinberg wrote: "I placed three orders, and in every single order, some seeds were unavailable. Either I was *very* unlucky, or J. L. Hudson lists a lot of seeds in its print catalogue that aren't really available." He has implied that we have no refund option, and further that we list a lot of items we do not in fact carry - the implication is that we gain money by not having to refund for a bunch of things that we don't carry. Actually, the costs of printing and mailing a catalog are such that we do everything possible to minimize out-of-stock items - why spend money on printing the descriptions and mailing a catalog of things we do not carry? In fact our TOTAL for out of stock items in 2006 was a mere 2.8%. The 2007 total out of stock is running about 2%. He wrote: "Instead, I got an extremely snotty message that essentially told me never to order from J. L. Hudson again. The message basically said that I was the idiot who marked "voucher" on the order form and didn't check the website for availability of seeds, so I got what I deserved." What I replied was: "I am very surprised to hear that you are 'annoyed at the service I have received this year.' We filled both of your requests for seed promptly, accurately, and followed your instructions to the letter ('Credit Memo for out-of-stock items')." Strange that he thinks this is "extremely snotty". At no time did I ever call him an "idiot", or say that "he got what he deserved". And to answer his question about why there are out-of-stock items in January, ("Why are you advertising so many items that are already out of stock in the very month that you published your catalog?") I replied: "As for having so many items out of stock the first month the catalog goes out - first, we have to get the catalog final format to the printer in late November (it takes some weeks to print), and we don't always have confirmations of what our collectors/growers will not be able to supply. Some species inevitably come in late, so are out of stock the first few weeks of the year. Then there may be a few items that come in, but our germination test shows the seed to be inadequate, so we do not distribute that seed, and have to try and hunt down another source of supply (if any)." My reply, simply trying to explain why there may be out of stock seeds at any time of year, even though they are listed in our print catalog, seemed to make him even more angry. Also, we do provide continuously updated sold out information on our website - anyone with internet access who wishes to avoid ordering out-of-stock items can check the website. We can't do this in the print catalog for obvious reasons. "I laughed out loud when I got to the part of the message where I was told that J. L. Hudson sells only the finest seed after meticulously testing its germination rate (as if I had complained in any way about their seed's quality)." As you can see from my reply, I merely mentioned that sometimes things are out of stock because if germination is low, we do not distribute them. I certainly did not use the phrase "the finest seed after meticulously testing its germination rate" as he claims. As for telling him "never to order from J. L. Hudson again", I explained: "We are a seed bank, not a commercial enterprise... We invite you to obtain the seeds you need from a commercial enterprise, and hope you find a source of supply that meets your satisfaction." He states in his rating of us: "And I can't help but note that every negative rating here has a very long, defensive diatribe from J. L. Hudson accompanying it. In every case, it seems, if someone is dissatisfied with J. L. Hudson, the dissatisfaction can't possibly be J. L. Hudson's fault in any way; the dissatisfaction is the result of the complainer's being an idiot or a liar or a baby. I don't like defensive, arrogant people, so why on earth would I do business with a defensive, arrogant company?" This is actually kind of a neat trick - if we take the time to try to set the record straight after being libeled online, we are posting a "very long, defensive diatribe". If we show that the problem was not actually our fault, but because of customer error [they gave us the wrong address (Heimler and Lamb Abbey), the seed that failed actually tested out with high germination (Shirer), or this guy, who checked "Credit" and got credit] then we are "defensive and arrogant". Neat trick - if we respond in any way other than apologizing to people for their own mistakes, we are bad guys. This guy just won't take any responsibility. Check his neutral review of Logee's - one of the most respected nurseries in the country - and his complaint that their plants don't live long. I guess it must be their fault that plants in his care do not live a long time - it can't have anything to do with him. He states: "For those of you who have positive experiences with J. L. Hudson, I hope you never have reason to complain about anything in any way, because if you ever do, you'll probably see a very different side of J. L. Hudson." Again, untrue. We absolutely will admit it whenever we make a mistake. If we make a mistake, we always "own up" to it and correct the problem - check these ratings of us: Windy (March 26 2005 - on next page of reviews) - we sent the wrong packet on an order, and immediately replaced it. airren (20 July 2003) - "... one packet was missed in shipping - customer service answered my email immediately and sent the missing packet." corbus (Nov 24 2006) - he describes getting zero germination from a packet and our helpful response - "The one time (years ago) we had zero germination we wrote for advice, and received a reply with detailed instructions as well as a free packet of seed." As for being "snotty" or arrogant: dirtdiver (23 Feb 2005) - "fast and polite". As for overcharging for postage and packing: Audrey (Jan 20 2007) - "Their charge for shipping is the lowest I've seen, which allows me to get even more seeds." We stand by our high reputation, and would urge readers of Garden Watchdog to look over the many positive ratings we have received. And do check out the negative reviews we have received, and our replies - judge for yourself whether they are "diatribes" or whether they are honest explanations of the facts. I'm sorry if I do not apologise to people for filling their orders exactly as they instruct.

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